Jan 29 Swallow healthy

We’re about to swallow more smart pills – that’s because they’re less invasive than traditional procedures, easily scalable, and don’t require the constant presence of different healthcare providers. Regulators have been slow to approve these pills, but expect to see more uptake in coming years, says CB Insights in Tech Trends 20018 report.

The Food and Drug Administration in the US says it “supports the development and use of new technology in prescription drugs and is committed to working with companies to understand how technology might benefit patients and prescribers.”

The US already has its first drug with a digital ingestion tracking system– the Abilify MyCite pill contains an embedded ingestible sensor, made by Proteus Digital Health, which records when the patient takes it.

And pills with cameras attached are also coming into the frame. PillCam and Israel-based Given Imaging have developed the PillCam Colon 2, a capsule with a camera installed at each end. The PillCam captures images of the digestive tract, sending them back to a recorder patients wear on their belts.